"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18.
Over the past year I have come to realize that having faith in God and loving Him is not enough in terms of being a complete Christian. God doesn't just want us to be happy with the things WE are blessed with. He wants, and even commands that we go out into the world to help our brothers and sisters in need. He wants us to bless their lives through Him. You see, feeling compassion or sympathy towards someone doesn't help to improve their situation. Nor does it fuel the fire of God's love in your heart.
I struggle with this every day. If I see someone on the street begging for food my heart breaks for them, but that doesn't fill their stomach. I usually would say a prayer to myself as I drive past them, but only in the attempt to make myself feel like I did something for God. But then it finally struck me one day that I need to be doing more than the minimum for Him. We all do! I need to be challenging my myself to make a difference (no matter how small) every single day that I am blessed with. I need to help people with a humble heart. I believe that in that moment, when I realized what kind of person I need and want to be, God decided I was ready to do something big. So he gave me the opportunity to go to Haiti.
I can barely express how excited I feel about this mission trip! I know that God is going to do so much within me and through me when we are on the ground in Port Au Prince. Even though I have no idea what it's going to be like, I'm not nervous because I have so much confidence in God and the people on my team. I'm honored to be working with such amazing people! I pray that this is just the first of many mission trips I'll be part of! - Olivia
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